Blackhollow (arc)
Ep 1: Blackhollow - Part 1 Episode Description The Tranquility Team (that's our heroes - Bug, Yolanda, Hue, and Gail) begin their mission to Blackhollow, investigating some demon sightings. After speaking with Guards, Mayors, Bartenders, Bartenders, and Doctors, they devise an elaborate trap. Summary The adventure starts with The Tranquility Team arriving at Blackhollow, a few days after Milarien's Finest, to play clean up crew for a host of vicious demons. The Tranquility Team enter Blackhollow and find that it is still mostly intact. They meet with the Mayor and Chief of Police, Lykke Nilda and Chief Aldonna the latter of the two unimpressed with the performance of Milarien's Finest and doubtful of the second best group. She explains that Milarien's Finest killed the largest demon and then just left a whole bunch of smaller ones for the town to deal with, and as far as she's concerned, they don't need the Tranquility Team's help. The Tranquility Team decide they are going to help whether Aldonna wants it or not, and they head over to the Hairy Chin, a local bar. From the moment they step foot inside, Hue brings some less than favorable attention to the group when the racist bartender tells them that her kind isn't welcome. The group leave and go to the Leaky Spout, a tavern with "a different logo than the last bar, and a slightly different arrangement on the inside". There, they are met with a more tolerant crowd and a friendly bartender named Reshenelle. They mingle a little while Gail accosts the bartender for not having a white wine spritzer and the party meets Frank, a tiefling doctor who tells the Tranquility Team about the most recent victims. They investigate the bodies of the victims and come to the conclusion that they need to trap the demons that are terrorizing the town and murdering people. The party go to the area where most of the attacks happen, and put the humans out for bait. Gail and Bug walk around "play acting" for the better part of an hour while Yolanda and Hue hide in a bush. They are interrupted by a scream in the night and they take off running towards it. Yolanda notices a shadow of a very corpulent creature, which is an adjective that we all totally know, and Bug tackles them. Some blows are exchanged while Yolanda ties up the creature and Gail calls for the police to handle the demon. They decide to investigate the house that the demon was running towards. The gang checks the house out before doing a B&E. Once inside they find a house filled with seemingly self crafted furniture. Upstairs they find some letterhead reading "Gisilbert Mercurious: Chief of Police" which raised some red flags. Further investigation of the house brought them to the basement where they find some jerky and a secret passage. The episode ends with the Tranquility Team opening up the secret passage, revealing fleshy corpulent hands reaching out to them! Ep 2: Blackhollow - Part 2 Episode Description Our first fight! The team explores secret doors, secret passages, and make secret discoveries about Blackhollow's demon problem. After a nap, Yolanda does a 'quick recap' for the police chief which goes as poorly as you'd expect. Summary The episode opens up at the beginning of combat with two demons and a scaly green creature which they dispatch hastily. The enter the secret passage and start looking around. They find a dog-faced creature that has been vivisected on a table and they investigate the room and find nothing of interest. They discover an alter room with a dais. The dais is caked with blood and there is a grizzled old man with his hands covered in blood standing on it. He has a companion that looks like, “if a dog and a lizard hated each other but still had sex and had a baby” Bug learns that if two people hate each other and have a baby it will come out ugly. It’s a lesson for all of us really, if you think about it... They enter combat immediately with the old man and the “dogzar” (dog+lizard). Bug chucks a javelin at the old man and as you would expect he is too old to move out of the way and gets stabbed. He seemed fine though. Bug and Yolanda start hugging in the middle of combat, as battle hardened adventurers are ought to-do. Gail calls out to the old man who she assumes is Gisilbert Mercurious with the battle cry of many warriors before her and then releases an arrow. It flies true and strikes Gisilbert in the shoulder (where Stephen Buckley thinks the heart lives) and collapses to the floor. The dogzar, whom Yolanda named Chiquita, attacks Yolanda and Bug is forced to kill a dog (Chiquita). Yolanda comforts him by saying “Bug, sometimes you gotta kill a dog.” The group investigates the room further while Yolanda starts roasting people left and right. The gang head back to The Leaky Spout to get some rest before going to talk to Chief Aldonna. In the morning they recap the previous night's events to Aldonna and convince her to come to the scene of the fight. After looking around at Gisilbert's house Aldonna raises some new questions which lead the Tranquility Team to suspect that Frank may possibly be involved. Ep 3: Blackhollow - Part 3 Episode Description The Tranquility team wrap up their adventures in Blackhollo. Yolanda flips out. Gail stabs things she shouldn't. Hue meats a monster. Bug dreams big. Summary The Tranquility Team decide to head to the morgue where Frank works. They attract the attention of a doctor as they are chanting Frank's name and find out that it's Frank's day off. The doctor gives the gang directions to Frank's house and they head straight over. When they arrive they meet Michelle, Frank's wife, and she tells them that Frank is in his study working, and cannot be disturbed. The Tranquility Team tell Michelle they are doctor's without borders and need to speak with Frank and she goes down to see if he will come up from his study. Gail decides to stealthily tail her like the goddamn Rogue she is. They both return upstairs after Michelle tried knocking on the study door, and receiving no answer. They discuss why they need to talk to Frank so bad and Michelle lets slip that Frank is an anatomical expert, that he knows everything about the body and is researching how to keep organs alive much much longer. With insight into Frank's research the Tranquility Team decide that that is all the evidence they need to investigate further. Everything starts happening very fast. Hue runs downstairs and Gail pulls a knife on Michelle (reluctantly). They march Michelle downstairs where Hue and Bug are trying to break down the door. It soon becomes apparent that Gail needs to pick the lock, as the door is too strong, and Michelle takes the moment of dropped attention as her opportunity to make a break for it! Gail works on the lock while Bug and Yolanda chase down Michelle, whom they catch before she can escape. Gail pops the lock and her and Hue start exploring. When they enter the hallway, one thing is for sure, it was stank y'all. In the first room they find a pile of dead bodies, and by the time they exit Bug and Yolanda are back with Michelle. They collectively move on to the second room where they hear some movement. The door is padlocked and Gail picks the lock. Inside they find a tall, old looking man who isn't very talkative. They notice something strange about him though. His form is carved of flesh mended by man pretending to be god... The stench is overwhelming as the terrible golem, constructed of flesh long since expired, shambles out of the door. Bug interposes himself between the door and the fleshy prisoner and is pushed back with surprising strength. Hue casts Tasha's Hideous Laughter on the fleshy prisoner, and it chokes a grave strangled laugh. The rest of the party loose a flurry of attacks, beating the creature back into the room before Bug slams the door shut and Gail locks it... One room left... The find the door to the last room ajar and Bug kicks it in as hard as he can, cracking the door in the process. The Tranquility Team and Michelle enter into the room just as Frank is pouring out a liquid that is taking the form of a demonic lizard/pug/bat. Gail shoots first and an arrow finds purchase squarely in the demonic creature's forehead, killing it instantly. After the show of force Frank is more willing to talk. Frank confesses to summoning demons for protection so he could finish his research. To everyone's shock Frank admits he is trying to become human because he doesn't want to be a tiefling anymore. He thinks being a human is better because his career wont be obstructed as much, and people will treat him better. Frank agrees to surrender and turn himself in. But before they head out they hear the crash of what can only be a door splintering, and the shambling of a body that should not be. The body that Frank wanted to put his brain into comes to exact it's revenge on the people who were the cause of it's pain. It charges Bug immediately and the Tranquility Team work in unison to stop the fleshy prisoner. Blows are exchanged and Bug takes the brunt of it's aggression, before the sad awful creature is put down for good with a clean executioner's swipe of Bug's axe. They bring Frank and Michelle to Lykke Nilda and Chief Aldonna and close the case for once and for all. Aldonna eventually apologizes for her stubbornness, though reluctantly, and Lykke Nilda give the Tranquility Team a letter from the queen that reads: "Tranquility Team, when you finish in Blackhollow make haste to the Gwomma Institute of Kordothian Studies. A map of its location is included. From the desk of Milarian’s fairest, Queen Kinaine, Ruler of the Steppes, 7th of the Illumined.” With the conflict at Blackhollow'' ''wrapped up our heroes retire to The Leaky Spout to see Bafar, get some drinks, buy some weed, and get some rest before their next quest. NPCs * Bejen the guard at the front gate who doesn't have any children. * Lykke Nilda, the Mayor of Blackhollow. * Aldonna, the Chief of Police in Blackhollow. * Reshenelle, the bartender of the Leaky Spout. * Frank Brandt, the doctor. * Gisilbert Mercurious, the former Chief of Police in Blackhollow. Aldonna took over for him after he was assumed to be dead. * Lappin, a cop in Blackhollow. * Bafar, the night innkeeper at the Leaky Spout. * Michelle Brandt, the wife of Frank Brandt, also a doctor Trivia * Marty rolled 6 critical failures in the 3 episodes that made up Blackhollow.